I participated in this program on behalf of Pet Supplies Plus and The Motherhood. All opinions are my own.

One of the things I definitely got from my mom is a love for animals and pets. My first pet that I remember is Silver, a stray cat that we started taking care of. Then a couple years later when I was in first grade we got my first dog, Spot. We were obviously known as the house that would feed any hungry animal as we often had a stray cat or dog that we would care for over the summer until they decided to move on else where.

Marvin loves to stalk, and, eventually…, attack as seen with his new toy from Pet Supplies Plus.

Throughout my years as a child and teen, we had a couple other dogs and cats join our family as it was very important to us to open our hearts to care for more animals as we could. It breaks my heart that there are so many dogs, cats and other animals out there that have been abandoned and/or abused, left without good homes. That’s why even though I would love to have a purebred Bengal or Savannah cat one day, Mr. Savvy and I chose to build our cat family with rescues. And you know what, they’re all pretty awesome and have their own uniquely entertaining personalities.

Gotta love the curious cat that can’t even wait until the toy is all put together. ;)

In recent years as more comes to light about our pet’s health and wellness, it’s become very important to us to take the best care of our cats, and spoil them as much as reasonably possible, especially as they start to get older. That’s why I’m happy to be partnering with Pet Supplies Plus to celebrate Pet Appreciation Week that’s running June 1 – 7. This week is all about celebrating the things we love about our pets while giving them even more love and affection than normal. It’s also a great time to think about our pet’s health and wellness, which is why we’ve decided to switch our cats over to more of a wet food diet even though love dry food more.

Wet grain-free cat food has become our #1 choice to feed our cats, so I’m so glad they carry it at Pet Supplies Plus.

To me, it’s important to get supplies from local stores that aren’t super commercialized and all about the money. I love being able to go into a pet supplies store and meet friendly employees who are more than willing to discuss your pets with you and offer any advice and suggestions. This is why I really love Pet Supplies Plus as their stores are large enough to have any supplies you’d ever possibly need, but they still have that at home feeling because of their wonderful employees. Plus, I have to admit I think it’s pretty awesome that Pet Supplies Plus partners with local animal rescue organizations, hosts adoption events regularly, and even organizes fundraising activities to help support local animal shelters and charities.

I think Chewie might have liked these treats just a bit too much. ;)

If you’d love to celebrate Pet Appreciation Week with Pet Supplies Plus, some other pet lovers and myself, make sure you head over to Twitter tomorrow June 4th, 2014 at 1PM ET/ 12 PM CT/ 10AM PT! Here are the deets:

Prizes: Throughout the party, we will give away six $25 Pet Supplies Plus gift cards to randomly selected participants who correctly answer trivia questions tweeted by @theMotherhood25. Prizes are limited to U.S. participants only. Check here to find a store near you to use the gift card!

Hosts: @theMotherhood, @theMotherhood25, @CooperMunroe, @EmilyMcKhann

Sponsor: @PetSuppliesPlus

Your fellow co-hosts:

Bonnie, ChilL Mama — @ChilLMama

Brett, This Mama Loves — @brettbmartin

Diane, Suburbia Unwrapped — @suburbiaU

Jennifer, One Mom’s World — @onemomsworld

Jessie, MomVantage — @MomVantage

Lee, My Sentiment Exactlee – @TheExactLee

Me, Smart Savvy Living — @savvyliving

$25 Pet Supplies Gift Card Giveaway

I find the Great prices. No Begging. so cute!

To celebrate Pet Appreciation Week, one lucky Smart Savvy Living reader will win a $25 Pet Supplies Plus gift card. Giveaway is open to those who live in 50 United States + DC and are 18+. Giveaway ends at 11:59 PM ET 6/15/14. All entries must be completed on the Rafflecopter below, please allow a moment for it to load. All entries are optional, though the more you complete, the better your odds of winning.

About Smart Savvy Living

Michelle is the founder and blogger behind Smart Savvy Living. She lives in Hampton Roads, Virginia where she enjoys creating recipes, learning how to do things smarter, photography, tech, gardening, and herding cats. She can be reached at [email protected]

We are all animals lovers here, so I have a zoo at my house. I have 2 dogs named Toby and Sushi. Toby is a 3 year old Shih Tzu and Sushi is a 14 year old peekipoo. Both girls are very loyal, smart and sweet. I have 4 indoor only cats whose names are Chester Ann Louise, Bubba, Little and Ryder. They are all rescues and very spoiled! I also have 2 small exotic critters, Opi and Gia the sugar gliders. They are both very spoiled, too. They love running on their wheel, swinging in the coconut swing and eating cherries, watermelon and boiled chicken strips. I love my furbabies very much and so glad they are in my life.

I am a fellow animal lover too. I tried to rescue a dog recently, but his little butt wouldn't come when he was called even after a couple months of owning him. He escaped the leash and got run over by a truck. However, we did try to love him and give him a good home.
We now have four kittens roaming our home and they are all spoiled rotten and they know it! They would have a field day with these toys. I hate that I missed the Twitter party.

I have five Treeing Walker Coonhounds and three cats - all rescues. My dogs are Suki, my senior girl (13+ years old); Ran (4-1/2 - born deaf and dumped at a shelter four days after the vet confirmed she was deaf); Kenji (4 - one of 30+ hounds tied along the property line of a man who was involved in cock fighting); Kyoko (5 - nearly starved to death and full of buckshot and then bailed on by a rescue so I adopted her); and Seiji (4 - pulled for me just minutes before he would have otherwise been killed for space). My cats are Koneko (8-9 year old Maine Coon who showed up in our yard and we could never find his family); Moko (one of several strays the father of a friend of mine was caring for and the other cats were picking on her so I brought her home - she's the single most affectionate cat we've ever had); and Arata (9 months - adopted by my daughter from a rescue just outside of Indianapolis).